Easements aid preservation

5 Augusta families protect 1,255 acres through agreements in 2013

9:14 PM,
Apr. 3, 2014

Taylor Cole overlooks his farm as cattle graze on grass on Monday, March 31, 2014, in Deerfield. Cole has set aside a portion of his property as a conservation easement, and says he hopes that future generations will be able to enjoy the same view he does from his farm.

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When Taylor Cole looks out his back window he can make out the 500 acres he has set aside for conservation. He can tell the spot - it's where the snow was fading from the mountains Monday and where the trees get thick at the edge of the pens for his 26 cows.

Cole has owned the farm, which is about three miles outside of the village of Deerfield, since 1989. In 2004, and again in 2013, he decided he wanted to conserve a portion of the land he owns so future generations can enjoy the area which will never be subdivided or developed and where wildlife habitats will be preserved.